Theatre Design & Technology - Dec 1971 - 5

THE AMERICAN
PLACE THEATRE
A Biography of
Broadway's Newest House
Barbara leslie Cortesi
Darnaz , Pokorny Weigel, Architects
I

The American Place Theatre is
the first to open of the four new
legitimate theatres built in New
York's Broadway area under the new
Theatre District Zoning Amendment
of November 1st, 1967. That the
American Place Theatre has been
completed almost exactly as planned
is a miracle of achievement, for from
the time it was first conceived, the
project was fraught with difficulty.
The Amendment itself, designed to
capitalize on the principal of incentive zoning and intended to increase
the dwindling number of theatres in
the district, has received much pubIicity, as have the other theatres that
it fostered. Publicity appeared in
"Progressive Architecture," December 1970, "Architecture d'Aujourd'
hui," Octobre-Novembre 1970, and
"Theatre Design and Technology,"
May 1970.
From the outset, the formula used
to determine what kind of theatre
facility the builder would provide,
and at what cost in exchange for the
additional square footage allotted him
by the Zoning Amendment, was completely unclear. The contractual relationships and the chain of command

THEATER DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

between the builder (the Fisher
Brothers), the arch itects (Emery Roth
and Sons), the tenant (The American
Place Theatre), and its architect
{Richard D. Kaplan)---and finally the
City of New York {as represented by
Richard Weinstein and the Mayor's
Theatre Projects Committee}-were
constantly being redefined in accordance with whatever crisis was at
hand.
The American Place Theatre's architect closed his office before a
complete set of construction documents could be realized, leaving a
part time associate to carry on the
work. Many projects might have
been abandoned at this point, but
since an office tower had already
been built, the Fisher Brothers were
still obliged to complete the theatre
in order to obtain a certificate of occupancy for the bonus square footage. Thus the fate of the American
Place Theatre fell into the hands of
the Fisher Brothers and their staff,
specifically John Lacey, who coordinated the job, and Gene Lauer, the
construction supervisor. Dedicated
and continuing assistance of scene
designer Kert Lundell and lighting

DECEMBER, 1971

designer Roger Morgan, the original
consultants to Richard Kaplan, also
forwarded the half-completed project
to realization.
The American Place Theatre is located in a glass-walled pavilion wing
behind the new J. P. Stevens building on the northwest corner of 46th
Street and the Avenue of the Americas-an appropriate avenue for a
theatre devoted to promoting and
producing the work of young American writers. Between the pavil ion
wing and the tower is a through
plaza or pedestrian way, spanned by
a broad enclosed bridge containing a
restaurant which is totally independent of the theatre.
The pavilion wing is four stories
high. At street level are the American Place's entry and loading dock.
The north half of this floor, and the
second floor, are given over to a
restaurant. The third floor houses
the American Places administrative
offices, and the top floor is devoted
to mechanical equipment for the restaurant and theatre. This kind of layering of space and occupancies exemplifies the haggling for apportionment of volume and square footage

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Dec 1971